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“Journey of Time” epitomises objects of “painful patience and perfection”

The Sydney Morning Herald has comprehensively looked into craftmanship epitomised in the exhibition of “The Journey of Time” taking place at the Korean Cultural Centre in Sydney.

It praised the exhibition as exceptionally showcasing the quintessence of craftmanship requiring painful patience and perfection.

The Journey of Tim features 86 pieces by 23 Korean artists – several of them honoured with that quaint Korean title, "intangible cultural asset".

The article by a renowned art critic John McDonald in the Spectrum, the Art section of the Sydney Morning Herald adds “It’s almost painful to imagine the hours, days, weeks and months that have gone into the creation of the works at the exhibition, in order to transform raw materials into things of intricate beauty.”

The writer emphasized that the inspiration for artwork may come from within, but essential skills and techniques need to be learned, implying the craftmanship is more complicated and painful than fine arts.

In fact it can take many years to master these skills.

Some would argue it's an education that never ends.

The write also stressed that Korean craft has a much greater emphasis on beauty in addition to the relentless perfectionism of Japanese one.

If you know anything at all about the Koreans, you know they are a stubborn, determined people who have overcome immense historical hardships.

In this exhibition those qualities are harnessed in the creation of objects of such detail and perfection it's hardly conceivable.

At the opening, one of the artists, Bogki Min, a maker of exquisite small metal brooches, said that the essence of Korean craft was "recovery from pain".

The curator Kisang Gio has articulated that the exhibition is dismissive of those artists who concentrate on "impressing the viewers with aesthetically striking appearances".

For Gio what's most important is that a work should demonstrate the "self-discipline of the creator".

This is bound up with a particular relationship with nature and natural materials.